I also hate those venders, not only do they give out wrong information, but they sell very ill animals.

Red Eared Sliders will grow to about a foot in shell length. Feeding the turtle just the stuff from the store will not do. It needs fresh veggies & life fish.

At their size feeder guppies will be large enough. The reason u feed them life fish, is because it forces the turtle to get off its butt & move around.

Not only do they need a large tank, but they need a basking spot & the proper lighting.

I would check out this forum Turtle Times
There r MANY RES mommies & daddies on there. I go there & help new parents of Common Snapping Turtles.

Its such a friendly place & there is just soo much information on there. If ur turtles ever becom ill, chance r, they'll know whats wrong & tell u how to make him better at the cheapest price. Most times its just a bad diet or poor water.

For starters, get a large rock for them to bask on. get a turtle lamp from the store. then get a GOOD filter.

If u cheap out on the filter ur little guys r sure to get that deadly eye illness. A BIO filter is just the best way to go. Get the best & largest one u can afford. so as they grow it'll still be perfect for them.

My filter for my snapper is for a 1000g pond. my pond is only a 160g, so I know the filter will do a great job.


If u want to cheap out on a tank. get a preformed pond from Home Depot. In the off season the 160g was only 80.00cdn!!! so if ur in the usa, it'll be a lower price then what I posted.

If u get the preformed pond I would just fill the bottom section with water & leave the shelves dry. Get those really flat rocks & have them on the ledges so the turtle can get on them to bask.

Heres what my pond looked like a few years ago (I didn't have a good filter then only a homemade one which was ok)



See all those little rocks at the bottom of the pond, ya those r BAD!!!! I didn't know that ay first. but having a bare bottom is the best way to go.



Thats the ledge. Axle loves to sleep on that ledge. I now have a plant basket attached to that ledge & he'll cuddle up to it & sleep there all night long.

Snapper care is different then RES care. My snapper doesn't like to bask & most do not. so his pond is all water.

please PM me if u need more help. I'm full of info for turtles, as Axle is my life